Chiefs 2012 Free Agent Class a Bag of Tricks, Not Treats
Free Agency is a double edged sword for the Kansas City Chiefs, and any team for that matter. If the Chiefs don’t spend money and sign players they are accused of being cheap. If the Chiefs do spend money and bring in free agents, there’s no guarantee they will see a return on their investment.
Winston provided the expected return but Kansas City’s other signees did not. (Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
Let’s look at the 2012 free agent class for results:
#1) Eric Winston: Eric Winston did a very good job in the 2012 season. He was definitely the pick of the class for the Chiefs. He is signed through 2015 and should be a great staple on the line in the coming years.
That’s it for the good news Chiefs fans. The rest of the 2012 free agent signings turned out to be a lot more trick than treat.
#1) Stanford Routt: Routt was signed to a three year $19.6 million deal, and pocketed a $4 million signing bonus. He was cut in early November and the Chiefs paid him $5.8 million in total for his short tenure with Kansas City. Routt was definitely the biggest and most expensive bust of 2012, not just for the Chiefs, but the entire NFL.
#2) Peyton Hillis: He was supposed to be a real factor next to Charles, but ended up averaging 3.6 yards/carry with 309 total yards and 1 TD on the year. He also lost two fumbles.
#3) Kyle Orton: The Chiefs signed Orton for the end of the 2011 campaign, then let him go in Free Agency and opted for Brady Quinn. The way our QB situation ended up, and still is in disarray, makes Orton leaving more painful. Not that he is the answer to the Chiefs QB woes, but he certainly would have been better than what we ended up with last year.
#4) Kevin Boss: Because of the injury in 2011 to Tony Moeaki and the lack of production of anyone else, the Kevin Boss signing made sense. But his week 2 injury led to a trip to the IR. He missed nearly the entire year which made this free agent signing an bust. Kansas City spent $2.4 million and wound up with less than two games to show for it.
#5) Brandon Carr: He was signed away from the Chiefs by the Dallas Cowboys for close to $50 million. Considering the rating of the secondary this year and the passing yards they allowed, Carr probably should have been kept at all costs. There is no way to know for sure if he would of stayed with the Chiefs, but he definitely could have been of use.
#6) Brady Quinn: When he signed some people thought maybe he would be ok. After all, Romeo Crennel knew him from his days in Cleveland and Quinn had never played on a team with the talent of the Chiefs. What did we know? He ended up playing worse than Matt Cassel. The good news is that he is a free agent again and will likely not be with the Chiefs for round two.
There you have it Chiefs Fans. The bag of tricks that is NFL Free Agency. Out of these seven signings from 2012, only one should be considered a success. We would all love to see the Chiefs get a free agent and have the situation turn out positively, but the reality is that more often than not, it just doesn’t end up that way.